December 14,
2004
Written
by Bob Meyer, Editor of BarterNews
We
Want You To Know...When you sign up to receive the
FREE weekly Tuesday Report announcement your e-mail address
will never be sold, traded, or given to another party.
There
Are Many Ways To Barter...Here’s Another Example
Last week we
reported on how billionaire John Malone’s Liberty Media was
pursuing bartering its stake in Sprint for 6,500 cellphone towers.
The exchange, as opposed to a sale, would enable both Liberty Media
and Sprint to avoid a heavy tax bill.
Now Malone is
looking at another deal, this time with Rupert Murdoch’s News
Corp. It’s a sophisticated but increasingly popular “exchange”
method known as a “cash-rich split-off.” It would involve
News Corp.’s putting cash and a business into a company that
could be traded for News Corp. shares held by Liberty. The technique
once again allows Liberty to avoid paying taxes on the increase
in the value of its News Corp. shares.
Interestingly,
cash could account for as much as 90% of the value of the company
being bartered. But the key to a cash-rich split-off is that the
business to be bartered needs to have been operated (by News Corp.)
for at least five years.
Get
New Money-Making Ideas And Valuable Contacts!
You can obtain
useful, informative ideas and contacts in every available back-issue
of BarterNews.
Trade
Promotion Grows As A Form Of Barter, Exceeding $100 Billion Yearly
Euphemistically
referred to as “trade promotion,” paid placements (made
in the form of product) by cereal makers and other food purveyors
for eye-level shelf positioning, has been practiced for decades.
This form of marketing for superior positioning is another example
of barter’s use, but has not been identified as such.
Lately, preferential
displays or paid placements are appearing on travel sites like Expedia,
Travelocity and Orbitz. Yes, coming into vogue are special deals
with particular hotels and airlines using trade promotion to have
their online offerings listed ahead of competitors. And, thus, making
it harder for the Internet purchaser to spot deals.
Trade promotion
by consumer goods manufacturers in the U.S. alone now tops $100
billion a year! Food retailers, consumer electronics, and office
supply stores have long offered superior product placement in the
aisles and on the shelves in their retail establishments across
America. With the travel industry now getting into the paid placement
business, the $100 billion figure will be even higher!
Barter as a
business tool, when looked at realistically and in an expanded view
where it’s used in a myriad of places, is an incredibly effective
and productive tool!
BarterNews
issue #63 is now available... get your copy now!
Orders are shipped within two business days. Click on Order Form.
(If you are
not sure if your subscription has lapsed, e-mail your name, address,
and zip code to bmeyer@barternews.com.)
From
the Archives of BarterNews...
Part
III: How A Trade Exchange Can Barter With The Local Media
(By
V. Ray Brown)
There are three
basic ideas that you need to get across in your presentation to
the media. They are selling, record keeping, and procuring.
SELLING:
The media company has a sales force in place. It is their responsibility
to go out and bring in the cash business that is available. At this
job they are professional (we hope). But when they attempt to deal
in barter, they are out of their field.
Usually commissioned
sales people do not want to handle trades, because either they don’t
get paid or get paid much less than normal. And when they are negotiating
the trade, they only have one item to negotiate with...their media.
The barter company
deals exclusively in trades and can bring a multitude of items to
the bargaining table. Why shouldn’t the media be represented
by a professional trade salesperson? Why should the media be placed
in a position to give 2 or 3 for one?
RECORD
KEEPING: If you can get the business manager to join in
your presentation meeting, you should get a great response. A major
problem with media trades is record keeping. The accounting department
hates trades because they are seldom consulted when a trade is made,
and have to ask for information about how to keep the books.
Accounting people
usually see the salesperson as a guy who tries to make life miserable
for them. When you present your record keeping system, look for
a bright glow on the business manager’s face. “You mean
you will tell us ALL purchases and ALL sales EVERY MONTH!”
Believe me, record keeping is a big part of what we can do for
you in media presentations.
PROCUREMENT:
You need to understand the way the media manager usually
enters into trade. One day he will realize that there is a need
for carpet or printing or whatever. He calls a sales team together
and says, “Go out and find someone who will trade carpet (or
whatever) for our media time or space.”
The sales team
is not too excited about doing this. However, out they go. They
waste a lot of time calling on prospects that are not interested,
although they may sooner or later find a trade partner.
If the media
was a member of the barter exchange family, the manager could pick
up the phone and place an order for the carpet. Not to mention the
fact that he is using barter dollars built up in a “barter
bank account” from unsold time.
Remember to
emphasize these three facts when approaching a media company: selling—add
a pro to your sales force; record keeping—don’t strain
relationships with accounting; procurement—pick up the phone
and place your order.
Yes, a small
trade exchange can offer the big media company a valuable service!
Exchange
Owners: Want More Mega-Traders In Your Exchange?? Then Resolve To
Do Something Different!
You’ve
worked extremely hard. Most likely you’ve put everything you
had on the line to start your exchange...you’re to be congratulated
for your persistence and tenacity. Getting a critical mass of clients
together is tedious work, now it’s time to start reaping
some of the reward for your efforts!
For twenty-five
years I’ve heard it said by many within the trade exchange
industry, “It’s only a matter of time before we get
the recognition due us and the resulting rewards.”
But it requires more than time and talk. Success comes to those
who go out and make things happen by providing extraordinary contributions
in the form of fulfillment.
Equally important
for maximum success, is to get your community to totally understand
and embrace your services by creating a vision for greater trading!
And that’s accomplished through constant communication and
education within your marketplace as well as your client base...reinforcing
both your value and the benefits derived from your services.
Want to know
how well you’ve done in inspiring your client base? One way
is to take this simple test: Determine the percentage of mega-traders
within your trade exchange...clients making sales of $100,000 or
more a year.
If you’re
not satisfied with what you find, then isn’t it time to resolve
to try a new approach this year?
You can take
the all-important first step by subscribing to a powerful and inexpensive
marketing tool—one that’s ready for you to use right
now. It’s called The Competitive Edge, and its use
will enable you to be the very best communicator in your market!
It is a 4-page,
professionally written and designed, monthly newsletter ready to
use...no effort is required whatsoever on your part. And the cost
is the same today as 18 years ago when it was first introduced!
Make the decision
to use The Competitive Edge today, and we’ll rush
you the current issue with an apropos cover story for your clients,
titled “Could You Become A Mega Trader? Absolutely!”
For more information
call Bob Meyer, publisher of The Competitive Edge newsletter, at
(949) 831-0607 or e-mail him at bmeyer@barternews.com.
Every barter company in the world is listed on our
web site, click
through to our Global List of Barter Companies.
Here
& There...
- International
Monetary Systems (OTCBB:INLM) reported that its holiday expos
transacted more than $1.4 million in trades. Don Mardak, CEO,
said the 2004 seasonal shows had the largest number of exhibitors
and attendees in the company’s history. “The record-setting
transactions were the result of the high client turnout and the
exceptional effort put forth by the members of our staff,”
he noted.
- Bentley Commerce
(OTCBB:BLYC) is launching its first South American trade exchange
(http://bnc.vbarter.com)
through a joint venture with Bolsa Nacional De Canje in Columbia.
It will be joining Bentley’s network of barter exchanges
already in the United States, Canada, Malaysia, Thailand, and
Turkey. Discussions are underway for additional exchanges in Dubai,
UAE, South Africa, Singapore, and China. For more information:
www.bentleycommerce.com.
- Next time
you’re feeling down in the dumps and a little sorry for
yourself you might consider this fact:
The number of workers
earning less than $2 a day and living in abject poverty has
reached 1.4 billion people, according to the International Labour
Organisation.
-
Have you
signed up to receive a summary via e-mail of the Tuesday
Report every week? If not, go to the top of this issue
(right hand corner) and sign up!
-
It’s happening
everywhere...even in Japan where despite strong economic expansion,
salaries are falling as part-time labor staffing grows. Since
1997, when just 15% of the workforce was part time, use of non-regular
staff has nearly doubled to 30%. The dramatic shift from a principally
full-time workforce to more part-time labor helps explain why
companies have been able to keep a lid on wage bills.
-
Crude oil prices
are bouncing around between $42 and $50 a barrel, some 70% higher
than a year ago. But they would have to surpass $90 per barrel,
adjusted for inflation, to match prices set in 1980. (The world’s
daily consumption of oil is now 82.4 million barrels.)
|